Is naming characters similarly really the best idea?

[Korruptor]

I use mostly unrelated names:

Here were the names of my first quint group:
Quaid
Axis
Exmortis
Eckhart
Quade (yes this is close to the first but it's still a real name)

My next batch:
Chaplin
Viper
Wülf
Tags
Draxl

etc.

It's a lot harder to find names that aren't taken but I can't really do the similar naming convention, not knocking it, just can't do it myself.

[Boylston]

It's really simple:

Similar sounding/looking names = Advantage for Arena mostly (very few in BGs are going to "call out" anyone other than TAB-Targeting your lead.

Different names = Better for YOU in PvE and inventory/client management.


My shamans are Boylston (lead) and Boylbee,Boylcee, Boyldee. I have talked with people on my server that have killed me in arena that they will simply say, "ok, kill order is going to be D, main, B, then C" over ventrilo. I have seriously considered renaming them if I keep on with them. As a result, I named my hunters:

Zoljuzol
Zuljuzol
Zoljuzul
Zuljuzul

and my healer will probably be renamed Zoljozol, just for consistency.

Yes, it's sometimes a bear to figure out who is who, but you get used to it after a while. My only beef is that I RAF'd them and then character-transfered them back over to my normal, old accounts and their team-order somehow got messed up.

[Littleburst]

I don't have a problem with the names being different with regard to IDing them. Even though 4 of my guys are technically exactly the same in all ways, I still find myself knowing who's who. Violin is the one who always pulls aggro on the big fights and is way lower in exp because of it. Violin you unlucky rascal, you! Kickinside is my trusty enchanter and has less gold because she DEs everything rather than getting to sell it. Thebigsky finds ways to somehow lose follow and get stuck on a branch or something, despite EVERYONE ELSE MAKING IT. Come on bigsky...

Yeah I really think these things.

Lol

I also got a slacker, the one with " on the i. If i forgot to pick up a quest on a toon because share wasn't possible it would be him, if a char would get stuck somewhere it would be her.

I always have to wow windows on the same places, so if i have to check one out i can check it that way easily. If i would have to target a specific slave without the party frame, that would be pretty hard though. :P

[Jaws5]

I have played and run both ways.

All same names easy to pick out and get grped in AV.

easy to tell you are a M boxer

different names and toons are harder to tell but when they find it out you get more insults on account selling , boting etc

I like all being same for pvp events

[Vicker]

My current pvp team is:

Triplicatión
Triplicatiòn
Triplicatiôn

I tried to make it as difficult as possible. "Kill the one with the little mark above the 'o'!" "Which mark?"

[RobinGBrown]

I can see that for the PVP scenario already mentioned, i.e. an enemy team using vent/voice chat to organise themselves, naming your characters similarly would help.

However don't serious PVP teams use focus macros to concentrate fire on the main target? i.e. the way multiboxers do. Wouldn't that minimise the advantage of having your characters similarly named?

In my opinion the benefits of different names outweigh the benefits of similar names, but each to their own.

[Toned]

Lawlshawk - ACT1
Lawlzshawk - ACT2
Lawllshawk - ACT 3
Lollshawk - ACT 4
Lolshawk - ACT 5

They sound similar and are pretty close to the same name, but easy for myself to tell apart. Really it isn't hard to communicate over vent my team names if you say L.O.L shawk, or the one with a Z etc.. But If they pronounce it just lol/lawlshawk there is some confused noobs.

[Eteocles]

Arena - Name confusion helpful
Other pvp - Not so useful, who gives a shit basically
PvE - Diff names very helpful, e.g; "Just send Flayme the mats when you're done" "Urth's gonna tank, heal him" "Yo you forgot to invite Waturrshokk!" etc

[raz]

I personally like the similar naming idea but it lends itself nicely to my setup. Running full hardware I know exactly which monitor and mouse to grab if I need to move A, B, C, or D separately from my "main" Z. I do often run less than 5 in kara so I'll swap who's on my main computer, but the others are always on a specific monitor so that I know who's who at a glance.

[TheBigBB]

It does seem like if people at decent rankings are losing battles over targetting confusion, then the state of the competition in the arena is pretty sad.